NEWARK, N.J.—Just like they planned when they came east, the Los Angeles Kings are heading home and the Stanley Cup is en route to California. One hitch: the New Jersey Devils are tagging along.

Winners of 15 of their first 17 playoff games, the Kings have failed to convert back-to-back opportunities to clinch their first Cup, allowing the Devils to stay alive on Saturday night as Bryce Salvador's tiebreaking goal in the second period sent New Jersey to a 2-1 victory.

Much like the first four games of the Stanley Cup finals, both teams had their chances in Game 5. It was the Devils who converted, while the goalposts that the Kings hit rang a solemn clang all the way back to California. Justin Williams had a particularly loud iron strike in the first period on Saturday, while Alec Martinez took up metalworking with a chance to tie the game in the third.

So, after taking out the top three seeds in the Western Conference—the Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues and Phoenix Coyotes —in five, four and five games, the Kings head to a Game 6 for the first time. With few exceptions, champions must battle through adversity, and here it is for Los Angeles.

"I think that's why they have seven-game series, unless they change it to five or something," Kings coach Darryl Sutter said, maintaining the even-keeled approach that served his team well on a bumpy road to playoff qualification before Los Angeles roared through the West and the first three games of the finals. "Long series. That's why they call it four out of seven."

It's the fourth that is the problem for the Kings right now, as they are 12-0 in Games 1-3, but fell to 3-4 in subsequent contests with their latest defeat. Gone is the 12-game road playoff winning streak that dated back to last year and included a 10-0 mark in 2012. Also gone is the feeling of inevitability to the Kings' championship dream; now the Kings must go home with the knowledge that if they don't get the job done on Monday in Game 6, the Cup will come down to one game on Wednesday night in Newark.

What remains is Los Angeles' confidence, especially that of the man who remains the favorite to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, Jonathan Quick. After losing back-to-back starts in regulation for the first time since March 24 and 26, though, the All-Star goaltender bristled at the notion that the challenge ahead was a necessary one for the Kings for any reason other than that they have not yet closed out the series, and need that 16th win.

"I thought we were tested pretty hard in the first, second and third rounds," Quick said. "Just because we were able to come out on top doesn't mean we weren't tested. You look at all the games, three out of every four wins we had were one-goal games. If you don't think we were tested in those series, you should be doing a different sport."

There's a difference between being tested in individual games—which the Kings certainly have been—and what now lies ahead. This is the first time that anything resembling a do-or-die situation has come up for Los Angeles, whose coach put a February overtime loss to the New York Islanders in those terms when he said, "Nobody died."

Sutter's honest, Zen-like approach, helped the Kings to survive to make the playoffs. It will help them now to avoid panic. Los Angeles still needs only one win for the Cup, and has two chances to get it. The pressure remains on New Jersey, which cannot afford any slip-ups. But there is no denying, try as Quick might, that the Kings now face a different challenge than any other they've come up against in these playoffs. The atmosphere at Staples Center for Game 4 was one of anticipation. For Game 6, it should be more of a nervous energy pervading downtown Los Angeles.

"Of course it's adversity," Kings forward Colin Fraser said. "We wanted to close it out in Game 4 and we didn't, and we didn't tonight, but we're still in a good spot. We worked hard to get up the three games, and we're going back home. Obviously not the result we wanted, but we're still in a good position."

Fraser said, and rightly so, that he thought the Kings had started well and played well—Los Angeles' 60-38 edge in shot attempts, and 26-19 edge in shots on goal were indicative of the flow of Game 5. The Devils scored on a misplay by Quick behind the net and a deflected point shot by Salvador. The Kings' goal, from Williams in the slot, had more style points, but the failure to get a second goal, pretty or not, meant that the truth was still as inescapable as the Cup has proved elusive for the Kings over the last 45 years.

Win Game 6, and the Kings don't have to come back. That's the challenge that they face—the kind that can forge a champion. As much history as the Kings have made in these playoffs, that last part still remains.